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At 01:15 PM 5/17/96 EST, Peter W. Borders wrote: >Since when is the definition K = 2^10 (1024) non-standard IN RELATION >TO COMPUTERS? Do you measure your computer's memory in powers of 10? >All the harddisk manufacturers are doing is confusing the general >public by using one value for K for harddisks and another for >anything else to do with a computer. My .02 worth. > Memory is addressed using binary addresses, so if memory wasn't based on a power of 2, we would have memory that couldn't be addressed (for all intents and purposes not there), or addresses without memory (probably lots of problems here). OTOH, hard disk geometries allow lots of different combinations, _most_ of which are not a power of 2. So 16Mb of memory is an exact number when 1Mb = 1024 x 1024, while a 540Mb hard drive will be an approximation regardless of whether 1Mb = 1000 x 1000 or the other definition. Since there is no compelling reason to choose either standard for hard drives, while there is for memory, the manufacturers choose the method which makes their products look the best as far as hard drives are concerned. My memory (which has been failing me lately) was that IBM used to use the same method, or at least a much more conservative one, when they advertised memory and hard drive sizes. When they saw what that their competitors were doing, they changed their advertising also. When they got beat up over the change, they started including a standard paragraph in their long-winded announcement letters specifying how size calculations were made. $.02 more for the pot. Brooks